Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story
Portland, Maine. 1970s. Snow falls over brick sidewalks and silent shame.
Susan Asta, a widowed mother with a newborn son, works for a Catholic charity that serves the poor-while secretly relying on welfare to survive. Each day, she slips away to Congress Square Park for a quiet lunch, hiding her hunger, her grief, and her hope for something better.
Across the street, Cynthia "Cyn" Hickey hustles to survive in a world that's used her since childhood. Cyn is raw, wounded, and lost-until an unexpected kindness from Susan begins to thaw the years of neglect and betrayal.
Their lives, shaped by poverty, religion, secrets, and survival, begin to intersect. But in a city where reputations matter more than truth and help comes with strings, even friendship has its risks.
Told with aching honesty and quiet strength, Cynthia & Susan: A Love Story is a searing, character-driven novel about womanhood, class, and the fragile bonds that hold us together when everything else falls apart.
George Eliot draws from a lifetime of lived experience in Portland, Maine and beyond, writing with emotional depth and social insight. Her work explores themes of loss, resilience, and redemption. She lives in Illinois with her husband, where she continues to write and reflect on the stories that shaped her life.
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